New Diver in Maui April 5th - 11th

[coreno16]

Thanks for all the help guys. Can't wait to leave tomorrow. Just imagine going from 60+ degree weather in the past week here to 30 degrees and heavy snowfall. Yep definatly can't wait to get out of michigan. Just got everything scheduled with B&B for a monday trip to the crater. Can't wait. If anyone is interrested in doing a dive or two while im down there don't hesitate to e-mail or pm me.

Thanks again

 

[divebri]

We had a great time with him, and he and his family lurk this board, but don't post much out of professional courtesy. He joked with me 'cause i say "eh?" a lot (I've been playing hockey with Canadians for thirty years down here) and I joked with him 'cause he's from chicago and ends every sentence with "yeah?"
Our conversations went something like : "Nice conditions, eh?" "Pretty good, and that whale got pretty close, yeah?"
Excellent pick for a new diver who's stretching his skills.
Maybe next time I go there, with all the people who say hi to him for me, he'll give me a free t-shirt

Of course, if i sing the Vonage song again before the boat leaves the dock, he might just kick me out!

 

[coreno16]

Lol. Yea ive played hockey my entire life so ill be saying eh after nearly ever sentence. Ill make sure i tell him you said hi.

 

[coreno16]

Well, after a very very very long flight i am home at last. My experiance on maui was absolutly awsome. The open water checkout with lahania divers went well but i do have a few minor complaints. First was for any certified diver i dont think i would recommend this dive op. Very big boat with a lot of divers. For a referral diver i would and wouldnt recommend. day one was with a different instructor than day 2 which may be normal but idk? I just think that switching instructors could be a win lose situation. for me it happened to work out nicely as i really really enjoyed my last 2 dives with the new instructor who was very helpful for me. (helped figure out weight and was very conversational on deck and anwsered all questions in depth. Overall a good certification experiance but im not sure if the higher cost was worth it.

As for B&B, i had the absolute best experiance ive ever had in my life. For my first dive as a certified diver we dove the back wall of molokini. WOW what an awsome dive. I was pretty nervous but Leo as well as the rest of the crew worked with me really well and made everything go smooth. Leo is an awsome guy and i really really enjoyed diving with him. The second dive was the drift dive at red hill and while it doesnt compare to the back wall it was an extreamly fun and relaxed dive. I would highly recommend B&B to anyone and everyone going to maui.

Thanks again for all the help. I look foward to diving more and more and hope to return to maui as soon as possible.

 

[justleesa]

Glad to hear that everything went (mostly) well for you

 

[DiveMaven]

Very glad to hear it all worked out well. I admit that I'm disappointed to hear of your experience with Lahaina Divers, though unfortunately, not surprised. Our last experience with them was less than ideal and I had hoped it was an aberration. I've since come to learn that it appears to be the norm for them now, which is really sad.

We were certified by LD just over 3 years ago and had unbelieveable service and professionalism. I've since learned how lucky we were to have such an excellent instructor. We went back and did our AOW with them, and again had an outstanding experience with a super instructor. Although they run big boats, that never bothered me because of the outstanding customer service and attention we've always received, both on regular charters and during instruction.

Based on our recent experience, another SB poster's recent experience, and now yours, it's clear that their focus no longer appears to be on providing an excellent customer experience for the diver. I did e-mail them, giving them specific feedback, and received an assurance from the owner that she would address this issue with the staff, along with a coupon for a future charter, asking us to give them another chance. We haven't decided what we're going to do with it yet.

I would strongly encourage you to e-mail them with your specific feedback so they will understand that this is across the board and not a unique situation for just a couple of people.

 

[PePaw]

First, congrats on the certification.
Second, I thought that for Molokini Backwall you had to have AOW ?
I'm really surprised that you were taken there.

 

[KrisB]

First, congrats on the certification.
Second, I thought that for Molokini Backwall you had to have AOW ?
I'm really surprised that you were taken there.

Nope, no AOW required.

Some ops require evidence of experience (thought by some to be 25 dives, with some of it in the last 12 months).

Remember, as an OW diver, you're qualified to dive to the maximum recreational limit of 130' / 40m. Any further qualification being required is only by the dive operator / dive leader.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend the Backwall without some experience beyond OW, but that's because a lot of the OW certified individuals have no idea on buoyancy control, can drain a 80 cu ft tank at 20' in under 10 minutes and get seasick when the surge is moving them around (especially up and down like it does on the Backwall sometimes). If you had a good OW instructor, and have some time underwater (if you can control your buoyancy in 6' of water in a pool like a pro, you're going to have no problem in the ocean at 60-80'), it's a safe enough dive.

Corey: remember, too -- only you can thumb your dive. If you are nervous about a dive, or something "doesn't feel right", it's up to you to not get wet -- no one is going to do it for you. I try to emphasize this to all my students... just because you paid for the dive, doesn't mean you should dive it... and the boat crew/dive leaders should definitely not talk you into doing a dive many consider "advanced" when your last dive was OW dive 4 of your OW certification.

 

[coreno16]

All good points. I do agree that if im too nervous to do a dive then i probably should pass on it. I have no objections to doing so. Most of my nervousness was due to the fact that it was my first real dive and that i had to pee so bad. But I was comfortable with my skills and boyancy control. Once in the water I was fine. Honestly, I had no problems on the dive other than a minor ear issue at the start. For the majority of the dive we were at around 70-80 feet. It's way too easy to get down deep there so keeping a close eye on my depth gauge was a must. It was a great dive and i cant wait to go back.

 

[spdspappy]

Sorry to hear about your experience w/ LD. I've dove w/ them on 3 sep vacations and never had any issues. My wife completed her referral dives w/ them when we went in Oct. Did you get to see any cool stuff while you were there (sharks? eels? etc.). I finally had a digital underwater photo setup and didn't have the opportunity to get any shark shots this time...